[EasternAlum]

In a great game that was all it was billed to be, Eastern came out on top. It was a very physical game because the officials really let them play.

The Eastern student section managed to delay the game for a good 20 minutes due to some pregame shenanigans involving a "Lebron like" baby powder throw that covered the court , making it a little slick.

Once the game resumed, Ballard shot the ball well in the first half and were up 36-34 at the half thanks to a Keisten Jones in bounds play tip in with 0.9 on the clock. Eastern came out fired up in the 3rd quarter and really intensified on defense and pulled out to a small led and led for the rest of the game.

My impressions of Ballard were that they have a lot of talent that is wasted as it seems they rarely run set plays and seem to clear out and play "streetball" alot. Don't get me wrong, they are Top 20 in the state on talent alone and are a very dangerous team. Wesley Cox is good, but he takes a lot of shots. I like Keisten Jones the most on the team to be honest. The 2nd Eastern-Ballard matchup and the regional tournament will be just as intense.

Eastern seemed a little lazy on defense in the first half but Coach Couch took care of that. They shot the ball acceptably and did a decent job rebounding, most notably Jon Davis and Delquan Thomas. Its a good thing for Thomas, as he struggled with the pressure for most of the game, yet still got to the line for his points and had a few nice assists. Chris Dowe had another great game, as did Remy Abell and Lyonell Gaines. Dowe had 16 points and Delquan Thomas added 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Remy Abell and Lyonell Gaines both had 13 points.

Keisten Jones had 20 points and seven rebounds.

They look good heading into J'Town on Fri and I like the matchup as J'Town plays almost the exact style of Ballard.

Congrats Eagles...14-0